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Road to London 2012 - Guide

With the London 2012 Games getting closer, the rush to find an accommodation during the event is intensifying.

Media outlets compared the hunt for an Olympic property to a modern day “gold rush”, with Londoners trying to maximize their profits as much as they can.

Sol Campbell, a former England defender and Arsenal star, made recent news for setting a £75,000 a week price tag - four time its real value - to his 7,000 squared feet property in Chelsea. While outrageous, the offer takes into account the expected half million extra visitors coming to London for the Olympics.

As many of our readers might be flying to the UK to see the event, we compiled a list of useful tips to find a place to stay during the Olympic weeks.

For those interested in camping or other alternative accomadations then head to : http://campinmygarden.com/ , couchsurfing.com and campinlondon.com .

1. WHERE TO STAY

London is incredibly well connected. Don’t be afraid to look into areas that initially might appear isolated.

Thanks to the excellent public transportation of the capital, which comprises the tube, buses and city-bikes, it is fairly easy, quick and cheap to get to the city centre. Check the Transport of London’s website for information on how to get from one place to the other through public transportation.

Not only will it be easier to find rent in more peripheral areas, but it will also be considerably more affordable.

Try hunting for properties in areas such as: Fulham Broadway, Putney, Camden, Belsize Park, Hackney, Victoria Park, Bethnal Green, Shoreditch, Angel, Southwark, Greenwich, Newington Green, Hoxton, Brixton, Clapham.

Avoid looking in more central areas such as Chelsea, Fulham, Sloane Square, Notting Hill, Victoria, Waterloo and South Kensington, as accommodations will be significantly more expensive and harder to find.

2. WHERE TO LOOK

Gumtree.com is the UK’s most popular classifieds website. While ads on the website are virtually about everything, the site’s main focus is on housing and renting. If you are looking for a single or double room, or a short-term flat-share or rent, this is the first place to go to.

Other valid alternatives, even though not as popular, are findaproperty.com, Facebook’s Marketplace, and Craigslist

As a last resort, you can look into niche websites created especially for the Games, such as rentduringthegames.com, rentals4olympics.com, accommodationforthegames.com, London-property-rental-2012.com.

3. WHAT TO DO

London is full of attractions and historical sites. If you are interested in art and museums, in-between the sporting events you can go and visit the Saatchi Art Gallery, TATE, British Museum, Victoria and Albert and National Portrait Gallery.

In case you want to do some shopping, you might want to go and take a stroll on the King’s Road, Regent Street, visit High Street Kensington, or walk around Brick Lane to find some bargains.

Finally, for the nightlife, the possibilities are countless. Head east towards Shoreditch, Hoxton, Hackney and Angel for a more relaxed, artsy and student atmosphere. Go west instead, towards Fulham, Chelsea and Sloane Square for a more posh vibe.

Without a doubt London will be the place to be this August. Explore the city on its double-decker buses, have a drink in its many bars, and don’t get worried if your accommodation will be slightly de-centred. Wherever you will find yourself, there will be something to do.

The Boat Race

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The 158th annual boat race between Oxford and Cambridge took place today in London’s river Thames. The event, which usually runs smoothly, was affected by various incidents that will spark numerous debates in the following days.

Oxford, last year’s winner, was the clear favourite amongst experts to win the competition. Nevertheless, due to a series of circumstances, the victory in the end went to Cambridge, bringing the tally of their wins to 81, against Oxford’s 76.

The race saw Oxford controlling since the beginning, and comfortably taking the lead for the first few instances. However, things changed right before the entrance to the last corner, when a man, swimming in the Thames, obstructed Oxford’s boat, causing for a suspension of the race.

John Garrett, the umpire for this year’s race, schedule for a restart that took place soon after. With the competition resumed, Oxford broke one of its oars when it clashed against Cambridge’s boat, effectively ending their hopes for a back-to-back win. Protests coming from Oxford were useless, as Mr Garrett judged Cambridge innocent, blaming Oxford for the incident.

As the race ended, Dr Alex Woods from Oxford lost consciousness, and had to be taken off the boat for medical assistance. News on Woods conditions are still not available.

Without a doubt, this year’s competition will be remembered for the years to come.

Football and Fatal Injuries - What's to be done?

The United Kingdom’s sporting world has been shocked with the news of Fabrice Muamba - a 23 year old footballer for Bolton - suffering a cardiac arrest during a FA Cup match against London based team Tottenham.

After initially critical conditions, with the player's stopping for more than one hour, the young English defender - raised in east London - recovered consciousness. While official reports state that conditions have stabilized, the footballer’s career seems at risk.

Muamba’s case has been only the latest of a series of tragic events hitting footballers all over Europe. Spain’s Antonio Puerta died tragically five years ago, in August 2007, while playing a match for his team, Sevilla.

Of a similar fate, but with a happier ending, Rubén de la Red - a now retired Real Madrid player - suffered a non-fatal heart attack in 2008 whilst playing against Real Unión.

The latest European player to have died on the pitch was Daniel Jarque in 2009, which at the time was 26 and captain of the Spanish team Espanyol.

Continuous fatal problems of cardiac nature have caused uproar and disdain in the footballing community, with various top-flight managers, such as Roberto Mancini, calling for more attention in medical tests.

Luckily, Fabrice Muamba's condition are getting better by the day. While everybody awaits is return on the pitch, demands for change in the sporting world are growing louder.

Move Your Money UK - An Ethical Model for Banks

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I meet Julia outside of Old Street tube station in east London for a talk on her work for the Move Your Money UK movement. When we sit down, and I ask her about the initiative, her eyes brighten up.

“We are fairly young,” she explains, “but the immediate attention the campaign has generated has been fantastic.” “The other day, for example, I was attending a conference on climate change, and the speaker encouraged everyone to join Move Your Money. It was unexpected, but really inspiring.”

Move Your Money UK (MYM) is a British movement, led by a small group of young and talented people, whose main goal is to inform the UK public on alternative banking and transform the country's banking sector.

Dissatisfied with the way banks handle their customers’ money, MYM originated as a protest against the current state of financial affairs, starting with the controversial system of bank bonuses.

“It’s unacceptable that banks such as RBS, which is largely owned by the government, do what they do with our money.”

The campaign asks people to move their money from the big banks that commit unethical investments, such as financing companies with a poor human rights record, to more local, community-focussed and ethical alternatives: credit unions, mutually-owned banks, or banks that have explicit ethical commitments.

“The aim is to reach out to UK citizens, and let them know that there are different ways for their hard-earned cash to be invested. Ways that can help their local community and where moving their money can have tangible effects that can be seen and touched.”

Previous events organized by MYM have been a great success. “A few weeks ago we organized initiatives outside of Barclays branches to raise public awareness, and the people’s response was extraordinary.”

The next event will take place this Thursday, on the 23rd of February, from 8:45 am to 9:15 am, outside of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s branch in High Holborn. “We hope to gather a large number of people, and spread the message further.”

Starting in March, MYM will organize "Move your Money Month", where it encourages people to choose a random day in March and pledge to move their money.

“The fact that people from completely different backgrounds have participated to past gatherings highlights the fact that irresponsible and unethical banking is something which affects every single one of us, independent of our interests, politics, or age.”

Before finishing our conversation, Julia reveals a secret to me: “I personally want to inspire 100 people to move their money to more ethical institutions. I am just at the beginning, but if I convince enough people, I hope to make a big difference.”

Judging by the look of things, Julia will not have any problem achieving this.

London, This Week

These last few weeks of February helped warm up freezing Londoners with a series of events which have hit the city.

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FASHION. Starting last Friday, the London Fashion Week had fashion experts from all over the world travel to the British capital for the occasion. Designers from every continent, especially Europe, are showing off their latest creations in the heart of London’s city centre, at Somerset House on the Strand.



London Fashion Week is the last of the other two major European Fashion events to have taken place earlier in 2012, following the footsteps of its Italian and French counterparts.

MUSIC. For Music lovers, Londoners can follow the annual Brit Awards which are going to take place tonight at The O2 arena. Being considered by many as the European equivalent of the American Grammy’s, the Brits have crowned many up and coming artists, the latest expected to be Adele.

POLITICS. Finally, on a more serious note, London will host a worldwide conference to tackle the current problems occurring in Somalia.

The conference, hosted by Britain’s David Cameron, will reunite European and other worldwide leaders to discuss the future of the country.

Whatever your interests may be, London seems to satisfy them.

2012 - London's crucial year?

The upcoming mayoral elections and the 2012 London Olympics have put the City’s public transport system at the heart of recent debate.

Subject to scrutiny will be the transport system’s efforts to cope under extreme duress during the Olympic events. Expecting an extra 20 million commuters, London Metro officials described the Olympics as “the biggest sustained logistical challenge since the Second World War.”

As reporters commented: ”The fact that the PowerPoint presentation by the transport secretary, Justine Greening, crashed as she underlined that point at the launch didn't necessarily inspire confidence.”

The success of a series of initiatives, aimed at informing millions of fans in route to sporting competitions, will prove crucial for the positive outcome of the Event. Officials hope that the initiatives will cut at least 30% of traffic during the Olympic weeks.

Adding fuel to the debate are the upcoming May elections for London Mayor. Ken Livingston, Boris Johnson’s main political rival, frequently attacked his opponent on his stance on the City’s public transport service.

Since Johnson took office, fares have gone up by 7% angering most of the city’s population. Observers have frequently stated that whoever will be more convincing on the area of public transport will bring home the victory.

With London being the most populous municipality of the European Union, the 2012 Olympics and the May Elections will prove decisive for all us Europeans living in the city.

cafebabel.com London is back - and supporting the British media's 'safer cycling campaign'

In November 2011 British journalist Mary Bowers, 27, was involved in a collision with a large lorry at Wapping Junction as she cycled to work, where she is a reporter at the national newspaper The Times.

It's now February 2012 and she still has not yet woken up from her coma, though her body is steadily healing. Mary is an acquaintance of cafebabel.com. We are all fully behind her recovery, and back the calls for improving the cycling system in the English capital.

On an anecdotal note, London cyclists are generally quite safety-conscious; at least 50% of my friends in London use a bike, wear a helmet, protective clothing, and so on. It's not the case really for the fashion-conscious Parisians I pass everyday on the way to work here. But then again, the city is relatively smaller and better connected so you hear much less about cycling in the French capital. It's more a lifestyle choice than a proper transport method for locals.

Over its eleven years of existence cafebabel.com has published a ton of articles from its citizen reporters about cycling. You can see some of them here; yet no-one has looked beyond the trend or the fad to the safety of it.

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Slovenians are one of three European Union member countries to have to wear helmets whilst cycling by law. Image: © Lucille Caballero for 'Green Europe on the ground by cafebabel.com, June 2011, Ljubljana

The Times have launched a Safer Cycling Campaign. As Mary's friend and colleague Kaya Burgess writes,

'As a point of comparison: since 2001, 576 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq; 1,275 cyclists died on British streets. The latest data shows there were 1,850 deaths or serious injuries in the first half of 2011, a 12 per cent rise on the year before. Britain leads the world in competitive cycling; it is time that we did the same for the cyclists on our streets.'

Europe in this

On a European level, the Vienna convention of 1968 is the white paper on pedestrian and cycling safety in the EU. At cafebabel.com we can contribute to an awareness on a pan-European level about safer cycling in our own cities and towns. Copenhagen and Amsterdam are regularly quoted as European models for this.

Whilst London is a magnificent city, loved by its locals, foreigners, and is a veritable melting pot of cultures, sounds, images, lifestyles, it's also a city which is home to the 'white ghost bikes' - memorials of bicycles painted white and locked to the places where Londoners have been injured, sometimes fatally, or killed in bike accidents - 3, 000 from October 2010 to September 2011.

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White bike in Stoke Newington, north London, in memorial, 2008. Image: (cc) Nicobobinus/ Flickr

The lowest percentile of cyclists, according to a 2009 report by the European commission, is in Finland. The same report points out that there are 6% of cyclist fatalaties (and 17% of pedestrians) in the 27 European union countries, with children aged between 6 - 14 being the victims most at risk. 80% of European accidents involve a motor vehicle. (Some more interesting facts: cycle helmets have been mandatory in Malta since 2004, in Sweden, Slovenia and the Czech Republic for children up to 15 years of age, and in Spain for all cyclists outside urban areas.)

It's been a three month wait for Mary to get better. The Times has correctly shown where it stands on infrastucture, investment and education of, in and about the cycling system in London. Of course it's a shame it takes something like this to happen to slap us all around the face for action. The great thing about Mary and her British colleagues is their resilience and belief. I was at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport in early February when I saw Mary's face beaming out at me from the front page of The Times. The few shop assistants I showed the newspaper to sent their get well messages and at least knew the story behind the picture. It shouldn't be this way, but it is, so it's no longer about 'let's do something about it', but 'we are doing something about it'.

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Mary's family are running a great blog updating on her condition and the situation in London, which is regularly updated where possible here. By January it reached over 5, 000 views. Mary is also a great musician and you can hear some of her band's music here.

Because South Kensington is so Gangsta', daaahling...

This rather delightful piece of street art snapped by Yours Truly near Gloucester Road Tube in the early afternoon. Correct me if I'm wrong, but surely South Kensington is the least of our worries when it comes to knife crime?

I've yet to see two investment bankers getting at it with their Global or WMF kitchen cleavers, whacking themselves to death with designer kitchenware and the latest in precision meat carving...but if you have, I'm willing to pay a rather obnoxious sum of money for the pictures.

Is This The Most Useless Man In London?

Forget the certain London MP and Government Whip who owned two homes equidistant from Westminster, or perhaps the wide variety of cronies that both Mayors of London have employed in the past, together with their various indiscretions, from dinner with the hobby horse to downright cronyism. Ladies & Gentlemen, we have the most useless man in London politics, a sheer waste of space, a vacuous waste of money and a man who has no parallel when it comes to putting foots in mouths and bums in cabs.

Brian Coleman is the London Assembly member for Barnet & Camden in North London. Not that anyone in Camden would admit voting for him. As a former LB Camden man, I personally blame Barnet for keeping him in place. From calling a London MP 'ditzy' for calling in the fire brigade after funny noises from her boiler, to shamelessly claiming over 10,000 pounds on taxis when members of the London Assembly already receive a Zone 1-6 Travelcard free, nothing seems to be taboo for what many round here call 'The Toad'. Nor does he seem to have any shame in engaging in the sort of behavior that the Telegraph would be more than happy to label 'completely outragrous'. Brian happens to hold the distinct honour of being the last London AM to publish his expenses, and only after a rather nasty blasting from ol' Boris himself. The list, as you can imagine, goes on far longer than I can be bothered to elaborate upon in one short post.

Could this be the most useless man in London? I certainly think so.

London Learns of Jackson's Death

"Michael Jackson's dead," said a young, tall, blonde woman whilst talking excitedly with her friends in a tunnel at Bank station. This was the only phrase I caught.

Neither child nor adult, black nor white, man nor woman, guilty nor innocent. Michael Jackson was a blank canvass of a man. He tried to please everyone. As I sat on the underground last night watching the news spread like wildfire through the tunnels and carriages, it seemed that he really got close.

On the tube, two young men, one Black-American, one White-British were speaking animatedly.
"He died broke in the end ... Absolute legend ... Heart attack." 
"Excuse me, sorry, who's died?" I asked.
"Michael Jackson." The American replied.
"No way, I heard a girl saying it earlier, but I didn't believe it. When did it happen?"
"About an hour ago." 
"Everyone already knows."
"Yeah, my mate got it on his iPhone just before we left the pub," said the British man.
"It's already in the LA times," added the American man.
"I'm really sad, even if he was possibly a criminal," I said.
"Ah, that thing with the kids, it's just people chasing money. Money talks," said the American man

A thirty-something pale blonde woman, wearing pearl earings and work-dress, turned to the man to her side, a Mediterranean looking stranger, wearing a sharp grey suit and pink shirt.
She said: "Oh the poor man, only fifty. He never had a childhood, always pushed into the limelight, even when he was a boy. Such a shame.
The grey-suited man said: "Anyone in their twenties to thirties will be defined by this man."
They continued talking about him demonstrating great knowledge of his biography and discography.

Across the carriage was a light-skinned black-British boy in his early twenties. A black man with a shaved head looked earnestly out from his t-shirt. Dates commemorating his life; nineteen-sixty-something to nineteen-ninety-something were printed below. Next to him was a Nepali-looking girl with a British accent. The boy asked who had died and I explained.
"He was supposed to be playing the O2, wasn't he?" the boy said.
"Yeah, he was," I replied.
He and his date looked stunned for the rest of the journey.

As I got off the train I looked at my phone. An friend of mine had sent me a message: "Michael Jackson's dead."

Hypocrisy in our time - MP expenses scandal

by Chris Dalby

The MP expenses scandal has succeeded in doing what years of policy announcements, Commons debates and campaign events utterly failed to: re-galvanise the British public’s interest in the political system. To hear the ways in which MPs that have been using tax money as their own piggy bank are being held to account would make the architects of democracy weep for joy. It is all the more shameful then that this outrage rests upon a foundation of utter hypocrisy.

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'Over There' Review: Whither the European Union?

Over There' in London: timely commentary on EU’s current political troubles

Over there review

''Harry Treadaway (left) and Luke Treadaway (right) | (Image: ©Simon Annand/ Royal Court Theatre) ''

Mark Ravenhill’s unconventional play about identical twins who are reunited after growing up in east and west Germany travelled from London to Berlin this spring. Our London reviewer calls it a timely commentary on the EU’s current political troubles. Our Berlin reviewer wonders if the British director reproaches the Germans with the repression of history. Cross-reviews from the Royal Court and Schaubühne theatre

London review by Sara Mojtehedzadeh

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Pro-tamil protests grow in Westminster, London

For the past 6 weeks pro-Tamil protesters have held a continuous presence outside the Houses of Parliament, demonstrating for the UK government to do more to to help the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Tamil Photo courtesy of flickr user Travis_Pictures, taken on 11th May in Westminster

In the last 24 hours the protests have grown to around 2000 people with Westminster Bridge jammed with traffic, buses unable to move and Parliament square blocked off to all cars. The sit down protest start growing early afternoon and by 7pm, the police had built up a heavy presence and ambulances were on stand by on the bridge. However, the protest was remaining peaceful with many demonstrators sat on the ground chanting.

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The Unquiet American

Article and photos by Alexandra Cacciatore

2nd April 2009

Two bobbies on beat

It’s time for me to come clean in two ways. First, I have never been to a protest. For the past week and half, the media in London has been rabidly spinning the G20 summit. The casual observer might have noticed that the local press seemed to be giving more coverage to the protests and supposed violence surrounding the summit than to the actual events and issues. It’s only the leaders of the top twenty economies getting together to talk about why the world is falling to pieces, yet the media swirled itself around a few sound bites about “bankers being strung up”. Pssst, I think it was meant metaphorically.

Second confession: I am an American and as such, am used to a slightly fear mongering media. Fox News, anyone? Perhaps, my second confession also explains the first. In his documentary that looks at the American healthcare system/ fiasco, Michael Moore suggests that the reason Americans are less inclined to protest or strike has to do with the fact that we have fewer social safety nets to fall back upon. If an American’s participation in public demonstration were to result in no longer having a job, that individual would suffer heavy financial consequences such as the loss of their job-sponsored healthcare. In case you Euros didn’t know, nearly half of all bankruptcies in the US are the direct or indirect result of medical costs. Compound that with the fact the average household has $12,000 of credit card debt (not mortgage or education related, just credit cards) and you can why Joe American might be stars and stripes terrified of protesting their own government, let alone capitalism.

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Protests against the G20 Summit in London

by Naomi Christie
London, 2nd April 2009

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G20 Protesters on the fringes of the exclusion zone of the ExCeL building in London were out-numbered by press and police on Thursday.

Many potential protesters were walked away from the site of the protest early, where peaceful protests the came from a wide range of groups showing little cohesion with one another.

People campaigning against the attendance of the chair of the New Partnership for Africa Development, Meles Zanawi, were the strongest voice. Protesters accused Zanawi, who is Ethiopia's prime minister, of brutality against the people of the Ogaden region.

Placards for groups as disparate as the Socialists Workers Party, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament were to be seen alongside individuals who attended in their own right.

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G20 London Summit: "A summit like no other"

London Summit Family PhotoLondon, 3rd April 2009. After G20 leaders agreed a mind boggling trillion dollar plan to tackle the global financial crisis, Gordon Brown declared that the London summit marked “the day the world came together to fight back against the global recession”, and the beginning of a “new world order”. President Obama heralded it as “historic" and "unprecedented”. But, how momentous was the London summit yesterday?


Fun and games at the summit family photo (Photo: Richard Lewis, Newsteam.co.uk/London Summit Flickr stream)

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Thousands attend London 'Put People First' protest

Colourful banners, interesting costumes and musical instruments were present along the Thames last Saturday as thousands gathered in London as part of the first protests related to the G20 summit on the financial crisis in East London this Thursday.

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Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race - in pictures

Today, there was much messing about in boats on the river Thames in leafy green South West London. Earlier this afternoon, rowers from Britain's historic universities, Oxford and Cambridge, slugged it out in the 155th boat race. However, there was much other activity on, and by, the river throughout the day...

Oxford celebrate

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Pick of the Week in London

Here's cafebabel london’s choice selection on what's happening in capital in the coming week (30 March - 05 April)

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The London teams first event

The new Cafe Babel London team recently held their first event, held jointly with the Grimshaw society.

Entitled European Defence Policy: Where next? Josh Arnold-Forster, former special adviser to John Reid at the Ministry of Defence, spoke to a packed room on his view of the European Defence Policy. The talk led to a lively discussion between all attending and was followed by a drinks reception at the LSE.

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